September 17-23 is Constitution Week in Union County

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Constitution Day will be observed on September 17 with Constitution Week lasting until September 23, 2021.

“On this day in 1787, the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution of the United States of America. With this proclamation, we’re giving official recognition to this document and the anniversary of its signing,” read Sole Commissioner Lamar Paris from the proclamation. “I ask the citizens of Union County to reaffirm the ideas the framers of the Constitution had in 1787 by vigilantly protecting the freedoms guaranteed to us through this guardian of our liberties.”

According to the Daughters’ of the American Revolution, Constitution Week aims to:

• Emphasize citizens’ responsibilities for protecting and defending the Constitution.
• Inform people that the Constitution is the basis for America’s great heritage and the foundation for our way of life.
• Encourage the study of the historical events which led to the framing of the Constitution in September 1787.

A school in Iowa first recognized Constitution Day in 1911, and in 1917, the Sons of the American Revolution began a committee to promote the holiday. The committee included President Calvin Coolidge, John D. Rockefeller, and General John Pershing as members.

In 1940, Congress created “I am American” Day, which was held on the third Sunday in May to celebrate citizenship. In 1952, Congress moved “I am American” Day to September 17th and renamed it Citizenship Day.

The present holiday came into being in 2004 as an amendment to a spending bill. It renamed Citizenship Day as Constitution and Citizenship Day. The law also mandates that all public schools and federal agencies offer programming on Constitutional history on that day.